Council for International Education (CIE)

What Council for International Education (CIE) does

Council for International Education (CIE) is a privately held digital platform, founded in 2017 and headquartered in New Delhi, India, that helps prospective international students discover, compare, and shortlist universities across countries. The platform's core surface includes a comprehensive Universities directory, country-based browsing (Universities By Country), individual University Detail pages, side-by-side Compare functionality, and a saved Shortlist feature — all delivered via a self-serve web application at cieducation.in. CIE operates a direct-to-consumer go-to-market motion: individual students interact with the platform independently without disclosed enterprise sales channels.

Beyond the discovery core, CIE has built adjacent modules covering the broader student journey: CIE Voyage for personalized international education guidance, CIE Prep for test and application preparation, and CIE Finance for funding and financial planning. A co-branded "D'Youville Experience" sub-product and a public "Partner With Us" page indicate initial institutional partnership activity. The team size is 12 employees, no funding rounds, revenue, or pricing are disclosed in the source material, and no AI/ML capabilities are described. The apparent revenue logic — commissions or fees from universities for student placements, supplementary fees from CIE Prep and CIE Finance, or partner referral economics — is inferred from the product set but not confirmed by disclosure.

Name

Council for International Education (CIE)

Legal name

Council for International Education

Website

https://cieducation.in

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CIE is a New Delhi-based digital platform founded in 2017 that helps prospective international students discover, compare, and shortlist universities, with supporting modules for test prep (CIE Prep), financing (CIE Finance), and personalized guidance (CIE Voyage).

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

International Education Discovery Platform

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Exam Preparation and Tutoring (611691), Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

International Student Admissions Counseling (EDANAEAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Direct Enrollment & Third-Party University Study Abroad Programs (EDAIAAAB), International Student Onboarding & Pre-Departure Orientation Services (EDAIACAG)

Keywords

• International education platform
• University discovery tool
• Study abroad guidance
• University comparison service
• Education financing support

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Platform Services: Revenue model not explicitly disclosed. The platform offers services including university discovery, comparison, shortlisting, and supplementary services like CIE Prep (test preparation) and CIE Finance (financial services), suggesting potential commission or fee-based revenue streams from universities or students.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Core offering

Council for International Education (CIE) operates a digital platform that helps prospective international students discover, compare, and shortlist universities, with supplemental offerings for test preparation (CIE Prep), financial planning (CIE Finance), and personalized journey guidance (CIE Voyage). The platform also serves universities through a partnership program and branded experience pages such as the D'Youville Experience.

Product overview

Council for International Education (CIE) operates a unified platform for international education guidance, consisting of a core discovery system and supporting modules. The core platform includes University Detail for researching individual institutions, Universities By Country for geographic browsing, Universities as a comprehensive directory, CIE Voyage for personalized journey guidance, Compare for side-by-side evaluations, Shortlist for saving preferred institutions, and Contact Us for support. This core system is enhanced by specialized modules: CIE Prep for application preparation and CIE Finance for funding guidance. The platform also features partnership programs including Partner With Us and the branded DYouville Experience sub-brand, enabling institutional collaborations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CIE Voyage: International education voyage program on CIE platform
• CIE Finance
• CIE Prep
• DYouville Experience

Products and services

• CIE Voyage Personalized guidance offering within the CIE platform that helps students navigate their international education journey with tailored insights for university selection.
• CIE Prep Preparation tools and resources offered through the CIE platform to help students ready themselves for international education applications and standardized tests.
• CIE Finance Financial planning and funding resources offered through the CIE platform to help students manage the costs associated with studying abroad.
• Partner With Us Partnership program on the CIE platform that allows universities and institutions to collaborate with CIE for student discovery and recruitment-related visibility.
• D'Youville Experience Specialized branded experience page on the CIE platform presenting the D'Youville partnership and the opportunities it offers to prospective students.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• CollegeDunia: Indian education comparison platform with growing international education content, offering university information, comparison, and lead-generation services similar to CIE's core platform.
• Edwise International: Legacy Indian study-abroad consultancy offering university admissions support, test prep, and visa services — overlapping CIE's CIE Prep and admissions guidance offering, though delivered through a physical-counselor model.
• Leverage Edu: India-headquartered digital platform offering university discovery, admissions counseling, test prep, and financing for students pursuing international education — directly overlapping CIE's end-to-end student journey model.
• Yocket: Online platform helping Indian students discover, compare, and apply to international universities, with admissions counseling and prep services — a direct competitor in the discovery-and-shortlisting category CIE serves.
• Manya - The Princeton Review: India-based test prep and admissions consulting brand offering SAT, GRE, GMAT, IELTS prep plus admissions guidance — overlapping CIE Prep's test-preparation and admissions-counseling functionality.
• Shiksha.com: India's largest education directory with extensive study-abroad university listings, comparison tools, and country-wise content, competing with CIE for Indian students' university discovery and shortlisting intent.
• Jamboree Education: India-focused test prep and admissions counseling provider for international education (GMAT, GRE, SAT, IELTS, TOEFL) — directly comparable to CIE's CIE Prep and admissions support modules.

Broad incumbents

• IDP Education: Global leader in international student placement with IELTS co-ownership, operating at significantly greater scale than CIE across university partnerships, test prep, and student placement — a dominant incumbent in CIE's category.
• ApplyBoard: Canada-headquartered global marketplace connecting international students with educational institutions, offering recruitment and application tools — a well-funded incumbent competing for the same Indian outbound student demand.

Emerging players

• GradRight: Indian fintech platform focused on education financing and study-abroad loans — overlaps directly with CIE's CIE Finance sub-brand and shares the Indian outbound student target customer.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/council-for-international-education-cie

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Council for International Education (CIE)